Raw Data: Michigan's 65 Superfund sites

Jun. 29, 2013

Written by

Kristi Tanner

Detroit Free Press

There are 65National Priority List (NPL) sites — often referred to as Superfund sites — in Michigan. The list includes the worst of the worst sites, and is used to help federal and state governments identify and prioritize the clean up of hazardous waste sites across the U.S. The first NPL list was issued in 1983 and included 406 sites in the U.S. The list has grown to 1,320 sites slated for clean up.

The causes of hazardous waste can be from past or current environmental practices. A 75-acre site near Sault Ste. Marie was added to the list in 1990 after contaminants from a 19th-Century leather manufacturing company were found along the southern bank of the St. Mary’s River. In Utica, the Liquid Disposal site was added to the list after an environmental incident killed two workers and forced the company to permanently close in 1982.

Approximately $938 million has been spent on superfund sites in Michigan since the program began. More than half (61%) of the funding came from potentially responsible (liable) parties. There are no active Detroit sites on the current list.